A Pahtra appears.
Another pahtra appears .
Obozaya!
It's been a quiet week. There have been too many quiet weeks of late. The life of a Starfinder is typically dull with punctuated episodes of "extreme activity" as the vids say. Your current assignment? Boring. You're piloting the starship Overhaul, a Kevolari Venture class explorer, as it transports aucturnite harvested from the Gelid Edge between the fringes of the Pact Worlds and the gas giant Bretheda. Regardless of the cargo, the delivery isn’t time sensitive, and the cargo isn’t at risk of spoiling.
Boring.
A klaxon sounds on the bridge of the Overhaul, blaring an imminent collision warning. Ahead, a starship that looks like a cross between a building and a tree is incoming, spiraling erratically in its out-of-control flight through space. A slight change in trajectory at the hands of the pilot and the collision is avoided, the biomechanical starship careening past in the direction of Bretheda and its many moons.
It's not boring any more, but it's also not "extreme activity".... yet.
Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) sits near the window pruning her fur as she catches a glance outside. Without much alarm, she goes back to cleaning. A moment later she asks, ”Do we know who is piloting this ship. Do you think they noticed this humongous tree that just missed us?”
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A young ysoki opens ultraviolet eyes, startled from her reverie by the klaxon. She sits up, looking at the console in front of her to try and make sense of what's going on.
To the other Starfinders, who she insists call her CeeCee, Cookie-Cutter is a techno-nerd who regularly blasts the synth-heavy tunes of Gig Razorbyte. Her father is famous for all the wrong reasons, which she avoids talking about for all the right reasons.
"We just dodged the biggest space fruit I've ever seen. My guess as to the pilot? Some weird seed-thing."
”CC, I can’t believe you were able to turn off your chaotic ysoki synth blasting cacophony long enough to notice anything else, least of all a piece of space fruit.”
"I just have trouble seeing how that little ysoki with the fancy cape can make all of that noise and somehow it is called a classic."
Turning to take a quick glance at the tree ship outside of the window, the Pahtra Mystic nonchalantly tries to see if there is anything of interest with it.
"I suppose if you play it loud enough, it might scare away some of the aliens that we find on this tree ship."
Ceilidh goes back to grooming herself.
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CeeCee puts fingers to the ship console, quickly entering the commands to run a scan.
She is still distracted by the discussion. "It's a very nuanced music, but the only way that you're going to hear that is if the volume is at a level that it can be detected. Trust me, it's as loud as it needs to be."
Ceecee quickly punches WAY too many keys for what he's doing, but it's hard to argue with the results. It’s a Xenowarden starship called Bloom, the starship is still alive, and that one of its port airlocks is open. also, there are dozens of life forms aboard. Most are Small or Tiny and one is Large.
Ceilidh identifies four airlock doors, two on the port side and two on the starboard side.
”My training as a disciple of one of Meyel’s chosen has taught me the power of music. However, none of my experience has prepared me for that sound you call music. It is just far too chaotic. It just seems to have . . .
Well . . . Too many notes. CeeCee, I hope this isn’t some sort of ysoki cult thing you are following?”
Ceilidh continues to watch the tree ship as she engages the ysoki in conversation.
”Hey, take a look at those circles on the side of the ship. I think those are airlocks.”
Obozaya pokes at the computer near her station. "I can never make these things work."
Dae pulls their VR recording rig off their head and sighs. "What are you all on about? I'm gonna have to re-record that segment, you're making so much noise!" Catching up on the events of the last few minutes, they crane their neck trying to look out the porthole at the passing tree. "Huh."
Dae schools the rest of the team with some knowledge. The Xenowardens are a far reaching and diverse organization who study and protect natural ecosystems across the galaxy, explore and survey new planets, and create eco-friendly technologies. Much of their technology utilizes biotech, magic, or both. The Xenowardens would pay well for the return of one of their starships, even if nothing valuable remains aboard.
Seems like you've left boring behind.
The ship is flying erratically. if you want to board it's going to be a little autopilot programming and a space walk
Obozaya trusts in her teammates to steer the ship. She forces her way onto the ship, hoping for something to fight.
CeeCee has no problems setting up autopilot for the maneuver.
"Nice work with the auto-pilot, CC. Now, let's go check out this ship."
Activating environmental controls on her tactical tempweave, Ceilidh makes the space walk across to the ship with Obozaya.
"I'm right behind you, Obo!"
"Excellent, Ceilidh. We shall face the unknown together! And maybe fight something!"
Dae joins Obozaya and Ceilidh in breaching the ship, adding their shoulder to the door beside Obozaya's.
"Excellent, Ceilidh. We shall face the unknown together! And maybe fight something!"
”I can’t wait! It sure beats hanging out on the ship listening to that Razorbyte Synthesizer noise.”
The party safely makes the leap to the Bloom, landing near the open lock. The airlock door to a laboratory is open, and only a shimmering green aura in the doorway marks the transition from the void of space to the Bloom’s dark interior. Inside, the laboratory is a mess of broken specimen boxes and lab equipment. Even with your flashlights its hard to tell more than that without going inside...
”Nice job, everyone! Shall we all go in and see what’s inside this tree ship? This looks fascinating. Is anyone good at scouting? Lead us in and we’ll follow you.”
"Follow me" Dae says, leading the way into the ship.
”Lead us onward, Dae. I’ll bring up the rear.”
Ceilidh will seek for her exploration activity.
Obozaya keeps an eye out for danger!
Once inside, the team settles in. you first notice that bloodstains and gore mar the walls and floor, as well as the interior of the specimen boxes, making it obvious that something grisly happened on the Bloom.
The lab offers a lot of potential leads:
What am I even looking at? Crafting, Survival, or Thievery [ooc]
Ceilidh moves over and investigates the debris.
the spacefarer was killed at least a week ago by a creature with insectile mandibles.
”Be on the lookout for giant insects with mandibles. They have already killed and I don’t want it to be any of us next.”
"There has already been a battle here." Obozaya looks at the specimen boxes.
Obozaya looks over the boxes. The boxes once held a variety of flora and fauna, but that each box was torn open from the outside and the contents within consumed. Only one of the containment boxes was broken open from the inside, indicating that the creature it once contained escaped confinement. Judging by the size of the box, this creature was 1 foot in size or smaller. The box is labeled “Sample 62.”
”I would assume that Sample 62 was this deadly insect. Let’s just hope it doesn’t reproduce or grow quickly.”
Looking around the lab, it doesn't seem like there's anything else of interest. It looks like the only door out of here is abaft.
"Onward" Dae says, opening the door.
"We shall find it and destroy it!"
Obozaya joins Dae.
The port cargo bay contains scientific equipment and survey gear. A broken porter drone lies on the ground, its legs twitching erratically and sparks periodically flying from its circuits. It's not destroyed....
There are definitely things you can do with the drone that aren't covered in the Playtest rulebook. this happens ALL the time in Pathfinder. There are GM facing mechanics that are opaque. It's table variation to know if the DM tells you or waits until you attempt the thing with the secret option. I can't tell which it is here.
"I always wished that I had better tech skills. I have always been much more of a people and community cat. However, maybe one of you could try and look at this drone. Do you think it could still work?"
CeeCee can tell that it CAN be repaired, but a second set of hands would go a long way....
"CeeCee, I really want to assist and be a helpful cat, but I'm not sure I want to get my fur dirty. That beinig said, I will give you some encouraging words. Go CeeCee! I know you can get this drone working!"
The party stares at the drone and CeeCee. Ceilidh tries to be helpful, but isn't sure he's really helping.